So, thanks to Janice K. and Douglas A. for pointing me at the story about the just-concluded lawsuit between the Richard Adams estate and the filmmaker of the 1978 animated film, Martin Rosen. The estate charged, and the court agreed, that the filmmaker had engaged in a lot of unauthorized licensing, such as an audiobook, as well as keeping the estate's share of royalties from the 2018 remake.
For those who have been following the story of the dispute between the Tolkien Estate and Saul Zaentz and his successors over the years, this may sound eerily similar:
https://deadline.com/2020/06/richard-adams-estate-wins-back-rights-to-watership-down-in-english-high-court-case-1202948220/
It will be interesting to see what, having regained control over a book that ranks as one of the greatest of all fantasy novels (arguably second only to Tolkien), the Adams estate does with it.
--John R
--current reading: the Preiddeu Annwn
It was a favorite book of mine as a child, but I hadn't read it for many years until picking up a copy in 2018. Even better than I remembered. And particularly rich in flora. It would be interesting if someone did a botanical comparison between "Watership Down" and "The Lord of the Rings".
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